Window flower box



Aug. 30, 1966 R; R. HERTZEL WINDOW FLOWER BOX Filed May 20, 1964 [/v l/EN TOR United States Patent 3,269,551 WINDOW FLOWER 30X Richard R. Hertzel, 19 Bruen Court, Clinton Heights, Rensselaer, N.Y. Filed May 20, 1964-, Ser. No. 369,022 3 Claims. (Cl. 21188) This invention relates to a window flower box.

In the prior art there is found many ways to attach a window flower box to the window sill on the outside of the house. They all necessitate the use of tools to secure the fastening devices to attach the box to the window sill. To cite a few: Burgesser, filed July 22, 1947, Pat. #2,477,509 and J. E. Evans-Jackson & Co. complete specification accepted August 30, 1937, British Pat. #471,131.

With the public acceptance of the artificial flowers that are in such abundant supply on the market today, it is my invention to provide a window flower box that is so constructed that a person can arrange artificial flowers in the box at his convenience, comfort and satisfaction while inside the house and then by merely walking to the window, raising the window sash, the flower box can be attached to the window sill on the outside of the house without the aid of any tool or fastening device other than that which .is incorporated into the box.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a window box that can be securely mounted on the outside window sill of a house from the inside of the house, without the assistance of a second person and/or the expense of a carpenter or wall brackets.

Still another object is to provide a window box having easily securing means which is adjustable to window sills of varying thicknesses.

A more particular object is to provide a window box which when properly mounted will be securely held against accidental loss off the window sill and yet may be easily and quickly removed and/ or replaced to facilitate cleaning, replanting and rearranging of real or artificial flowers and for winter storage.

Other advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view partially broken away to show one of the attaching means.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken approximately along the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 isv still another form of the clamping means showing the swivel head and friction pad.

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, it is here shown in the drawing and will hereinafter be described in a preferred embodiment. It is not intended, however, that the invention is to be limited thereby to the specific disclosure made. On the contrary it is intended to cover all modifications and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the invention comprises a box or container having a bottom 1, a rear side wall 2, a front side wall 3, and end walls 4 and 5. While the box might be made of a variety of materials, it preferably is and herein is shown as made of a rigid molded plastic. To reinforce the box, the rear wall 2 should obviously be made of a greater thickness to facilitate the embodiment of the adjusting screw 6. Preferably the box is provided with a preforated bottom of such design to prevent the accumulation of water.

It is a feature of this invention to provide a securing means which not only is adjustable to adapt it for use with window sills of any thickness, but which also permits ready removal and replacement of the window box 'ice from the inside of the house. To that end, there is secured to the rear wall one or more, depending upon the size of the box, an adjusting screw 6 threadedly connected to a flange 7 which is formed integrally on the inner face of back wall 2. Thus by virtue of this adjusting screw 6 in cooperation with the threaded flange, an adjustable device is effected. Obviously this device can be vertically adjusted to accommodate any window sill thickness.

Made integrally with or attached to the uppermost part of the adjusting screw 6 is an arm 8 projecting outwardly therefrom and provision is made in this arm to accommodate a thumb bolt 9 that would be positioned vertically with the alignment of the adjusting screw 6 and placed outwardly to a point where it would be positioned over the back wall 2.

Now it can readily be seen that by rotating the adjusting screw 6 until the arm 8 is in a position slightly greater than the window sill thickness, the window box can be placed under the window sill 11 with the top edge of the back wall 2 abutting the under side of the window sill and the arm 8 protruding over the top side of the window sill. Therefore, with the adjustment of the thumb bolt 9 (FIG. 3) causing the swivel head 12 which is attached to the friction pad 13 to bear on the window sill 11, a locking action is effected. The purpose of the friction pad 13 is to create a greater and more effective holding power over a larger area than would be accomplished by the contact area of the thumb bolt 9 (FIG. 2). Friction pad 13 is here shown as a flat surface, but it is within the concept of this invention that this member may be serrated.

It is now readily apparent that the box may be secured in this manner regardless of variations in the thickness of the sill and that the securing means is adjustable to compensate for such variations. Moreover, the box is readily disengaged from the sill by releasing the thumb bolt. This facilitates removal of the box for replanting, cleaning, winter storage and so forth. At the same time, if the housewife so desires, she may secure the window box on the window sill on the inside of the house in the same manner as described for attaching to the sill on the outside of the house.

Having thusly described my invention, I claim:

1. A window flower box formed as one unitary article from any suitable material comprising a bottom, front, back and sides to provide thereby a receptacle for the arrangement of real or artificial flowers, said back having an inwardly extending flange with a vertical threaded hole accommodating an adjusting and locking means for securement to a window sill, said adjusting means comprised of an adjusting screw with an integrally formed arm extending at a right angle from the upper-most point of the adjusting screw with a provision for accommodating a locking device.

2. A window flower box formed as one unitary article from any suitable material comprising a bottom, front, back and sides to provide thereby a receptacle for the arrangement of real or artificial flowers, said back having an inwardly extending flange with a vertical threaded hole accommodating an adjusting and locking means for securement to a window sill, said adjusting means comprised of an adjusting screw with an integrally formed arm extending at a right angle from the uppermost point of the adjusting screw with an integrally formed threaded hole therein accommodating a locking thumb bolt.

3. A window flower box formed as one unitary article from any suitable material comprising a bottom, front, back and sides to provide thereby a receptacle for the arrangement of real or artificial flowers, said back having an inwardly extending flange with a vertical threaded hole accommodating an adjusting and locking means for securement to a window sill, said adjusting means comprised of an adjusting screw with an integrally formed arm extending at a right angle from the uppermost point of the adjusting screw with an integrally formed threaded hole therein accommodating a locking thumb bolt, said thumb bolt having attached to its lower end a padded 5 swivel head.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,084,414 1/1914 Eger 47-3 1,108,692 8/1914 Burd 108-95 Sandberg 248208 Wiesjahn 4-185 Bisson 312--140.4 Joyce 24-259 Fowler 2209 Marra 29234O Johnson 220-3.7

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

6 10 CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Examiner.

W. D. LOULAN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A WINDOW FLOWER BOX FORMED AS ONE UNITARY ARTICLE FROM ANY SUITABLE MATERIAL COMPRISING A BOTTOM, FRONT, BACK AND SIDES TO PROVIDE THEREBY A RECEPTACLE FOR THE ARRANGEMENT OF REAL OR ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS, SAID BACK HAVING AN INWARDLY EXTENDING FLANGE WITH A VERTICAL THREADED HOLE ACCOMMODATING AN ADJUSTING AND LOCKING MEANS FOR SECUREMENT TO A WINDOW SILL, SAID ADJUSTING MEANS COMPRISED OF AN ADJUSTMENT SCREW WITH AN INTERGRALLY FORMED ARM EXTENDING AT A RIGHT ANGLE FROM THE UPPERMOST POINT OF THE ADJUSTING SCREW WITH A PROVISION FOR ACCOMMODATING A LOCKING DEVICE. 